The Real Deal - New York Real Estate News

Inside Airbnb’s IPO pitch

Posted: 16 Nov 2020 05:23 PM PST

Airbnb is pitching investors with a story of resilience, despite steep losses and an uncertain path to profitability. The S-1 prospectus of the home-share startup was made public Monday, 12 years after the company debuted and quickly turned the hospitality industry on its head. In it, the company said it will trade under the ticker symbol “ABNB.” The public offering represents a remarkable turnaround for Airbnb, which lost $1 billion in bookings overnight in March

NexPoint Advisors buys self-storage company for $900M

Posted: 16 Nov 2020 03:09 PM PST

NexPoint Advisors has acquired Jernigan Capital, a large owner of and capital provider to self-storage facilities, for about $900 million in an all-cash transaction. The deal signals the growing interest from institutional investors in the sector. The newly acquired company will be known as NexPoint Storage Partners. Extra Space Storage, a self-storage REIT, provided about $300 million to finance the acquisition by purchasing preferred stock. JPMorgan Chase provided about $512 million of additional financing for

Manhattan luxury market has best week since early March

Posted: 16 Nov 2020 02:45 PM PST

There were more luxury contracts signed last week than any other week since early March. And in the last month, the total number of deals for properties above $4 million actually exceeded that of the same time period last year. But Donna Olshan, who tracks Manhattan luxury deals, said it would be premature to start ringing the bell about a market turnaround, as Covid cases surge across the city. “I tell people, we put one

RXR to raise $1B pandemic fund

Posted: 16 Nov 2020 01:55 PM PST

RXR Realty is planning to raise $1 billion to invest in sectors the firm thinks will thrive after taking a hit from the pandemic. The firm is talking to potential investors about its RXR Real Estate Market Dislocation & Mega-Trends Fund, Bloomberg News reported. The company plans to find “pockets of distress,” such as non-performing loans and borrowers in need of rescue financing. Areas of focus will include sectors RXR believes will be in high-demand

CBRE to shutter White Plains office, lay off 35 employees

Posted: 16 Nov 2020 01:20 PM PST

CBRE Group will permanently close its office in White Plains, laying off 35 employees, according to a notice recently filed with the state Department of Labor. A CBRE spokesperson told The Real Deal that the office at 70 West Red Oak Lane in Westchester County mainly houses valuations staff, and the operation will be consolidated into the firm’s Stamford, Connecticut office. The White Plains space will close in February. CBRE, the largest commercial real estate

Billionaires’ Row penthouse will go up for auction

Posted: 16 Nov 2020 12:25 PM PST

A London-based investor is trying a somewhat unusual move to find a buyer for his penthouse on Billionaires’ Row: He’s taking it to auction. Arnon Katz, the owner of the penthouse atop Hampshire House at 150 Central Park South, has contracted Concierge Auctions to handle the sale of the home. The auction is scheduled to take place in December, the Wall Street Journal reported. There is no reserve price, but the seller can back out

Can’t Hardly Wait: Why did Branden and Rayni Williams start their own shop?

Posted: 16 Nov 2020 11:30 AM PST

In a market where luxury listings can soar well into the nine digits, a $58 million Hollywood Hills mansion wouldn’t ordinarily garner much attention. So it was curious when the 17,000-square-foot contemporary appeared in a lavish Wall Street Journal writeup last week. For Los Angeles brokers, the answer seemed to come in the story’s final sentence: “Rayni and Branden Williams of the Williams & Williams team at the Beverly Hills Estates have the listing.” This summer,

SL Green snags $1.25B construction loan for One Madison Avenue

Posted: 16 Nov 2020 10:00 AM PST

SL Green Realty landed a $1.25 billion construction loan for its One Madison Avenue office redevelopment, the largest office construction financing package of the year. The real estate investment trust, which is developing the building in partnership with the National Pension Service of Korea and Hines, announced the loan Monday. The loan was provided by a consortium of banks including Wells Fargo, TD Bank, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Deutsche Bank and Axos Bank. “Despite

Sapir Corp names Sharon Raz CEO

Posted: 16 Nov 2020 08:05 AM PST

Sapir Corp has named former Elad U.S. Holding CFO Sharon Raz as its next CEO, the development firm announced Monday. The appointment comes a week after the company’s previous CEO, Amir Richulsky, resigned to pursue a job opportunity in a different industry. “Sharon Raz is a seasoned leader with just the right experience to lead the company, and we are thrilled that the board has approved her appointment,” said Alex Sapir, the firm’s chairman, in

More than 50% of home sales see bidding wars: Redfin

Posted: 16 Nov 2020 07:30 AM PST

The bidding wars rage on. In October, Redfin agents handled a bidding war in 56.8 percent of home sales, according to Mansion Global. Although that’s below September’s 57.4 percent, it’s the sixth consecutive month in which the bidding-war rate exceeded 50 percent, according to Redfin’s data. Some areas saw more competition than others. In Salt Lake City, that rate was as high as 75 percent, while San Diego saw a rate of 73.2 percent. But

Blackstone’s Schwarzman defends Trump on exec call

Posted: 16 Nov 2020 07:00 AM PST

Hours after President Donald Trump questioned the results of the presidential election and falsely claimed that voter fraud had occurred, about 30 chief executives of major companies gathered on an emergency Zoom call. Among them was Blackstone founder Stephen Schwarzman, who defended Trump’s response to the election results, the Financial Times reported. On the call, Schwarzman questioned why Pennsylvania leaned toward Trump at the beginning of the night, only for later counts to go towards

Ralph Lauren to sublease Fifth Ave. location for a fraction of the cost

Posted: 16 Nov 2020 06:30 AM PST

Ralph Lauren is subleasing its Fifth Avenue location for just a fraction of the price. Mango, the Spanish fast-fashion retail chain, has agreed to take on the 28,300-square-foot store at 711 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 55th Street, Business Insider reported. Under the deal, Mango will pay $5 million annually, less than 20 percent of the more than $27 million per year that Ralph Lauren pays to occupy the prime piece of real

Simon and Taubman reach a new merger deal

Posted: 16 Nov 2020 05:54 AM PST

The long-in-the-works merger between Simon Property Group and Taubman Centers is finally coming to fruition. Michigan-based Taubman has agreed to take a price cut in Simon Properties’ buyout of the company, allowing the two to avoid pending litigation. Simon, the country’s largest mall owner, will pay $43 a share for Taubman under the new deal, down from the original price of $52.50. Taubman has also agreed not to declare or pay a common stock dividend

Better.com plots IPO after $4B valuation, more co-working losses

Posted: 16 Nov 2020 05:00 AM PST

Better, better, best Bolstered by low interest rates and unprecedented demand for all things digital, online lender Better.com has raised $200 million ahead of a rumored IPO. The round, led by private equity firm L Catterton, valued the company at $4 billion. Based in New York, Better.com has now raised $410 million since 2016 from investors including Citi, Goldman Sachs, Ally Financial, American Express Ventures and Ping An. Better.com has hired 2,500 employees since the

Two-year foreclosure battle in Tribeca culminates in bankruptcy filing

Posted: 16 Nov 2020 04:30 AM PST

The owner of a five-story commercial building in Tribeca has filed for bankruptcy, facing foreclosure and $23 million in debt. CTW Realty’s Gary Tse owns the 18,300-square-foot building at 381 Broadway through an entity, 381 Broadway Realty, which recently filed for Chapter 11 protection with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Southern District of New York in Manhattan. Another property owned by Tse at 55-59 Chrystie Street in Chinatown was sold in a bankruptcy auction earlier this

Going in circles: Dueling New York Wheel lawsuits emerge

Posted: 16 Nov 2020 04:00 AM PST

The New York Wheel, the Staten Island waterfront project that would have been the largest observation wheel in the world, was declared dead two years ago. But legal wrangling over who is responsible for the project’s failure is far from over. Last week, lawyers for both the project’s developer and contractor filed new lawsuits in federal and state court, respectively, after coming to the “unfortunate realization” that a prior suit, dating back to 2017, should